Daddy
by bionic4ever
Summary: How will Steve react to his newest, most important role?
1. Chapter 1

**Daddy**

Chapter One

"Are you _supposed_ to be that big already?" Steve asked, affectionately rubbing Jaime's 'baby bump'.

Jaime swatted at her husband, but her seven-months-pregnant belly – already larger than most full-term 'bumps' – kept her from leaning toward him, and she missed. "I asked Doctor Hammond if he thought we might have twins in there, and he said no – just one very healthy baby."

"Twins?" Steve flashed a mischievous grin. "Looking at you, Sweetheart, I'd say...quadruplets, at least."

"That's it," Jaime said with mock sternness. Putting one hand firmly on each arm of the chair, she hoisted herself to her feet and stood directly in front of Steve. "One remark too many, Austin. I'm just gonna have to shut you up."

"Is that so? And just how do you intend -"  
Turning her tummy sideways so she could move closer to him, Jaime silenced Steve with a firm, well-placed kiss.

"You know," he told her, "I'm pretty sure this is what got us into this mess in the first place."

"Don't care," she said, kissing him again.

"I also know," Steve continued, as he lifted her gently in his arms, "that you were told to stay off your feet." He carried her to the huge, over-stuffed sofa and set her down softly, placing pillows behind her back and under her feet.

"I could get used to such service," she giggled. "But it seems kinda silly to put my feet up. It's not like they have actual circulation..."

"No, but the point would be enforced relaxation," he reminded her. The phone rang, and Jaime automatically swung her feet down to the floor, but Steve's voice and his lovingly firm hand stopped her.

"_Jaime Lyn...!"_

"I was closer," she said with a tiny pout, obediently swinging her legs back onto the pillows as Steve answered the phone.

"Austin Baby Ranch – oh, hi, Oscar." Steve winked at his wife and she rolled her eyes in response. "Been awhile; how are ya?" Steve frowned as he listened, and Jaime's light-hearted mood suddenly vanished. "Oscar, you know that Jaime's...isn't there anyone else...uh-huh, I understand that, but..._now_?"

Jaime didn't have to hear the other half of the conversation to know what it meant. Her eyes brimmed with involuntary tears. Steve finished the call quickly and crouched down next to the sofa, tenderly wrapping his arms around Jaime in an attempt to comfort her.

"How soon do you have to leave?" she asked in a sad, defeated voice.

"Tonight."

"For...how long?" She was trying her best not to cry.

"Ten days or so – two weeks, tops." Steve had to force back a lump from his own throat at the thought of leaving her. "I'll call Helen to come and stay with you."

Jaime slowly shook her head. "I'll be ok. I don't need to have someone with me; I need _you _with me."

"Jaime -"

"Just...come home safe...please?" She rubbed her belly as she felt an especially strong _kick_ in the ribs. "This little lady needs her Daddy, too."

Steve kissed her and rose to his feet, his heart breaking. He did _not _want to go, but knew he had no choice. He forced a brave smile as he agreed with her – somewhat. "**_He_** sure does. I'll call you if I can, and if anything happens...if you need me...Oscar can find me," he told her. _I hope_, he told himself.

- - - - - -

If Steve had been home, Jaime would've put a lot of effort into protesting her doctor's edict, but with her husband gone, she did what she knew he expected and spent most of her time off her feet. The increasingly strong kicks in her mid-section and worry for her husband kept her from getting much sleep, but she rested at all opportunities. She was doing exactly that, three days into solitude – lying on the sofa, enjoying a warm Spring breeze that came through the open windows and screen door - when her ear picked up footsteps on the front walk, and two very familiar voices. She began to struggle to her feet to let Rudy and Oscar in, but they were a step ahead of her as they mounted the front stoop.

"Just sit down, Honey," Rudy called to her. "Ok if we come in?"

"It's open," she answered, smiling warmly at them as they joined her. She was overjoyed to have company. "There's coffee on; can I get you some?" She looked at Rudy. "It's decaf. I'm behaving."

"I'll get it," Oscar said, heading into the kitchen.

Rudy pulled a chair next to the sofa and took a closer look at his patient/friend. He wasn't happy with her pale, drawn face or the heavy bags beneath her eyes. "Why don't you grab some juice for Jaime?" he called to Oscar.

"So," Jaime said brightly, trying to hide the weakness and general malaise she'd been feeling, "where are you sending me this time, Oscar?"

"Very funny," he replied, exchanging a quick, worried glance with Rudy. "The juice," he prompted her, making a light 'get-on-with-it' motion with his hand. Jaime slowly drained the glass. "How are you, Babe – really?"

"I'm...ok. Have you heard from Steve yet?"

"He contacted me this morning; that's what I came to tell you. He's fine, but nowhere near a phone," Oscar explained. Jaime nodded her understanding. She wouldn't get to talk to him. "I can get word to him, if you need anything," he reassured her.

Jaime nodded. _I need **him**_, she thought to herself.

- - - - - -


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Two nights later, Jaime had finally managed to grab a few consecutive hours of precious sleep, but she dreamed about Steve, and the dream wasn't a happy one. He'd been shot, and was lying alone, bleeding to death and calling her name. She woke with a start as a sharp pain tore across her stomach. Rubbing the 'baby bump', she whispered softly to her belly. "It's 3:30 in the morning; not the best time to be kicking Mommy awake."

Sighing with exhaustion and the after-effects of her dream, Jaime settled back onto the pillow and closed her eyes. A few minutes later, she felt the pain again, and it was _not _a kick. _Oh God – no...!_ _Please let it be a fluke...stretching pains...anything but..." _The third one had her doubled over, clutching her stomach, and when it passed she sat up and resolutely reached for the phone. Very calmly, she called Doctor Hammond, who ordered her to the hospital. He wanted to send an ambulance, but Rudy was only minutes away. Jaime called him next, and he left for her house immediately. When she hung up the phone, her resolve and eerie sense of calm evaporated and she broke down in tears.

Rudy bundled her in blankets and helped her into the wheelchair she and Steve had been keeping in the garage, 'just in case'. He settled Jaime into the backseat, fitted her with a portable oxygen mask and – blue light in place on the roof of his car – sped off into the night.

Doctor Hammond met them at the hospital and the two doctors admitted their patient into a private room. "Jaime, when was the last time you had a full night's sleep?" Hammond asked as he started an IV line flowing into her arm.

"Few days..." she answered, her voice trembling as badly as she was. "Is this...am I...in labor? It's too soon..."

"We don't know yet, Honey," Rudy told her gently. He attached the last wire of the fetal monitor and patted Jaime's hand. "If these are labor pains, we'll make every effort to hold them off, hopefully stop them altogether, for now."

Doctor Hammond glanced at the initial readings from the monitor. "Jaime, I've given you a sedative -"

"No..."

"Right now, your baby needs you to _rest -_ to sleep – while we get you both stabilized."

"But..." she began to protest. Her eyelids were already growing heavy, and within seconds Jaime was finally sound asleep. Hammond checked the readouts for a few more minutes, then both doctors moved down the hall to Rudy's office, leaving Jaime under the watchful eyes of her nurse.

Oscar had just arrived, and met them halfway. "Were you able to find her husband?" Hammond inquired.

"He'll be here by noon. How is she?"

"She's experiencing regular pains that appear to be contractions," the obstetrician explained. "Her blood pressure is very high, and at seven months, these are serious symptoms; _very_ serious. I've put Jaime on a pitocin drip, which, combined with sleep – absolute, one hundred percent bed rest – _may_ alleviate her symptoms. She's been under extreme stress, and physically , she's exhausted to the point of collapse, so if we _are _able to stop the contractions, she will be off of her feet completely until the birth. The good news is that the fetus is in no distress, which would've forced delivery immediately. Right now, she's asleep – sedated – and we'll keep her that way until Steve can get here, provided her condition remains stable and the fetus is not in danger."

"Oscar," Rudy said carefully, "we didn't know that sending Steve on assignment would have this drastic of an effect, but now that we do -"

"I've already arranged it; Steve won't be re-activated for at least three months."

- - - - - -

Steve got to the hospital a few hours later and went straight to his wife's side. He'd been sent to work on a Presidential order, but his soul still flooded with guilt when he saw Jaime's pale skin and the fetal monitor that kept watch on their child's condition. He sat with her for several long minutes before heading back out to find her doctors.

"We're extremely lucky," Hammond told him. "The contractions have abated, thanks to the pitocin, and Jaime's blood pressure is nearly normal."

"And...the baby?" Steve asked.

"No ill effects, that we've been able to see," Rudy said, smiling. "The sleep is proving so beneficial that we're going to keep Jaime under sedation for the rest of the day. We'll ease off on both medications overnight, and she should be awake in time for breakfast."

"If her contractions resume once she's off the pitocin, we'll have to deliver the baby," Hammond added, "but at this point, there's every reason to be hopeful. Ideally, she should stay in the hospital right up until she delivers, but I'm guessing from what I know of Jaime thus far, she won't react positively to that." Steve and Rudy both chuckled their agreement. "If she remains stable, since the baby is in no danger and you'll be able to be with her from now on, we can probably send her home in a day or two, provided she stays _off of her feet completely."_

"She will," Steve asssured them. On this point, he would be accepting no arguments from Jaime.

- - - - - -


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The next morning, Jaime had experienced no further contractions, and she slowly came out of sedated slumber with Steve by her side. The doctors hovered in the hallway, keeping a close eye on their patient while allowing the couple to reunite in privacy. Jaime stirred restlessly in the bed, and awoke frightened as she remembered where she was, but she calmed considerably when she heard Steve's voice and saw his face smiling lovingly down at her.

"Hi, Beautiful," he whispered, tenderly brushing the hair from her eyes and leaning in to kiss her.

"Steve…." Her eyes grew wide. "The baby…?"

"Baby's fine, and so are you. But - you're gonna have to do something very un-Jaime-like for a month or two."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Doctor Hammond was going to keep you here until you have the baby -"

"But that'll be weeks, over a month!"

"Right. And we all knew how well you'd like that. So…he's agreed to let me take you home, but the very out of character thing you _have _to do is….absolutely nothing. Bed rest - one hundred percent. I will spoil the hell out of you, and you….are gonna let me!"

- - - - - -

Steve kept his word, serving Jaime her meals in bed, where they also played cards, watched TV and talked for hours about everything under the sun, _except _the one topic Steve was doing his utmost to avoid: his total lack of any experience whatsoever with babies.

"You could buy a baby-sized doll," Jaime suggested. "We already have the diapers, and I could show you -"

"That doesn't sound very relaxing."

"I wouldn't even have to get out of bed, Steve."

"I meant for me."

"_Steve…._"

"The bottle goes in the mouth, the diaper goes on the bottom, old one in the trash. What else is there to know? I'll be fine."

Jaime raised an eyebrow and shook her head in amusement. "Daddy" had a lot to learn. He was in for the surprise of a lifetime. What Jaime didn't know just yet was….they both were.

- - - - - -

Steve was forced instantly into Daddy Mode when, six weeks later, they brought James and Lauren home. Doctor Hammond had no explanation as to why tests hadn't picked up that Jaime was carrying twins, but both babies were normal in every sense of the word and Jaime was exuberant. Steve, on the other hand, was terrified.

Jaime was rocking Lauren to sleep on their first day home together as a family of four, when James began to cry. "Sweetheart, James is crying."

"Very good," she said, smiling. "My hands are a little full. Looks like you're up, Daddy."

"But...I think he might want Mommy."

"You're stalling, Austin. Just remember, 'Bottle goes in the mouth, diaper on the other end'."

"Very funny," he said, laughing with her just the same. Fortunately for James, disposable diapers had no pins, although Steve did destroy the adhesive on three diapers before he finally got one (almost) properly positioned and secure.

Jaime grinned warmly at the intensity of his effort. "Next time'll be easier; I promise."

"And the bottle thing isn't as complicated, right?"

"Well, you have to mix the formula, making sure you get exactly the right proportions of flour, sugar and milk - oh, and don't add oil 'til the very end - then heat it to exactly 90 degrees, no more and no less, and -"

"Whoa," Steve said, his head swimming. "Maybe I should write this down."

"I'm _kidding_, Austin. It's all just heat and serve, and I'll show you, as soon as one of 'em is hungry."

"How will we know?"

Jaime giggled, almost waking their daughter. "I'm pretty sure they'll let us know."

- - - - - -

Steve wasted only one diaper in his next attempt, and was feeling very full of himself until he saw Jaime - a few hours later - diapering one twin while she jiggled the other one confidently on her hip. He slipped quietly from the nursery, and was waiting in the den with two mugs of coffee and a plate of Jaime's favorite cookies when she joined him.

"Lady, you are amazing," he told her, still completely in awe.

"Give it a week or so, and you'll be juggling with the best of 'em," Jaime answered.

"If this was something that bionics could help with, I'd be a star player..."

"You've always been my star player," Jaime said, kissing him. "And believe me, in another year or so, those bionics are gonna be lifesavers when the twins start walking."

"I can't think about that just yet -"

"And not long after that, we'll have two in the Terrible Twos at the same time..."

"Jaime Lyn..."

"Of course, by then the next one will be here, or at least on the way."

"_The next one?_" Steve gasped in mock horror as, inwardly, he smiled at the thought of the large family he and Jaime had always wanted. He knew he wasn't up to that just yet, but when the time came, he would be. He'd been blessed with a great teacher.

END


End file.
